New Bishop for Edmonton Ukrainian Catholics

On 25 January 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Most Reverend David Motiuk as Ukrainian Eparchial Bishop of Edmonton. At the time of his appointment and since 2002, he was the Ukrainian Auxiliary Eparchial Bishop of Winnipeg. The Edmonton see has been vacant since the nomination on 9 January 2006 of Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, O.S.B.M., as Eparchial Archbishop of Winnipeg and Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada.

Born in 1962 in Vegreville, Alberta, Bishop Motiuk was ordained a priest in 1988. He has served in a number of Alberta parishes, including Saint Josaphat Cathedral parish in Edmonton. From 1996 to 2001, he was Rector of Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Ottawa, following which he returned to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton as canonical advisor.

The new Eparchial Bishop of Edmonton holds a licentiate in canon law from Saint Paul University, Ottawa, and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

The Eparchy of Edmonton has a population of 28,845 Ukrainian Catholics, in 87 parishes and missions, who are served by 26 diocesan priests, 12 priests who are members of religious communities in addition to 36 other men and women religious, four permanent deacons, and three lay pastoral workers.

In the Eastern Church, an eparchy is the equivalent of a diocese. There are five Ukrainian Catholic eparchies in Canada: New Westminster, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Toronto which also includes Eastern Canada.